McHenry County allows video gambling

County withdraws ban in unincorporated areas

April 17, 2013|By Robert McCoppin, Chicago Tribune reporter

(Tribune illustration)

After initially opposing video gambling, McHenry County has joined a wave of Chicago-area communities now embracing it.

The McHenry County Board voted 15-9 late Tuesday to repeal its ban on video poker in unincorporated areas, undoing a prohibition that was enacted shortly after state lawmakers voted to allow video gambling in Illinois in 2009.

The change allows taverns, veterans halls and truck stops in unincorporated areas to operate up to five terminals each, though operators said it can take months to get state regulatory approval. They will join 43 establishments that the Illinois Gaming Board lists as already offering video gambling in municipalities in McHenry County. There are now more than 5,000 active video gambling terminals in Illinois, according to state figures.

The county's initial vote against video gambling was based mainly on concerns about customers developing gambling addictions, county spokesman Adam Lehmann said. But as more establishments offered the games, he said, board members were swayed by the argument that competitors were at an economic disadvantage.

Fred Hoffmann, co-owner of The Snuggery and numerous other establishments that serve liquor, said video gambling is one more way to attract and keep customers.

"Is gambling a vice, like drinking and overeating? There's no question about it," Hoffmann said. "But you're not going to legislate those items away."

At his businesses where Hoffmann provides video gambling, he said, the vast majority of customers gamble a small, set amount and walk away if they lose their limit.

But opponents like Cheryl Hammerand, of Wonder Lake, said video gambling will suck money away from other businesses and promote addictions and is not worth the social costs.

Just because other places allow it doesn't mean McHenry should, she said.

"Two wrongs don't make a right," Hammerand said. "There's so much infrastructure and bureaucracy, I don't think it's ever going to be cost-effective."

A Tribune analysis in February found that the percentage of municipalities in the Chicago area that allowed video gambling was slightly greater than the percentage of those that banned it, reversing the previous trend. The Tribune found that the average income per business was about $9,000 a month.

Last month the games took in $5.6 million for the state and $900,000 for municipalities statewide.